Activities

Hier de subtitel

Theodore, Eleanor, and Franklin Roosevelt were all master communicators, and each saw the ability to reach out to the public as a quintessential feature of public service.

FDR car
FDR, in particular, excelled in communicating with the public, and seized on new technologies to do so. He was the first president to make extensive use of radio through his famous 'fireside chats.' Several of his speeches, including his first inaugural ('we have nothing to fear but fear itself'), his response to the attack on Pearl Harbor ('a date which will live in infamy'), and his eighth State of the Union address ('we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms'), still stand out as famous examples of American political oratory.

The RIAS serves both an academic and a public function. Alongside conducting and facilitating research and acting as a meeting point for scholars, the Institute also plays an important regional role in Zeeland. Together with its Rooseveltian partners – the Roosevelt Foundation and University College Roosevelt – the RIAS organizes public events and raises awareness of the Roosevelt legacy and its ideals through a variety of outreach activities.